Mini-Review: Proporta Magnesium Treo 650 case

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as readers know, the treo 650 is my main device, and has been now for almost a year. i primarily use a sena leather magneticflipper case, and i also have a rhinoskin al hard case.

i enjoy checking out cases for my mobile devices, and was excited to see a new hard case design from proporta: the magnesium treo 650 case. lisa had one sent to me to review, and at first i was impressed with the smooth finish, light weight, and cool new hinge design. i always found the hinges on the aluminum hard cases to be the weak point because they loosen up over time and don't always match up that well when you close the device. the magnesium treo 650's new two-point hinge allows you to actually flip open the cover 180 degrees so that it rests against the back of the case–it is very solid and works quite smoothly.

two-point hinge

there are also openings for every necessary function on your treo 650, and there is even a reset hole. however, because the treo 650's battery cover blocks the reset hole on the handheld, you will have to buy one of those inexpensive treo 650 battery covers with a reset hole, or else drill one yourself to make use of the magnesium's reset opening. the front opening for the buttons is even angled down towards the keyboard a bit to make button presses easier than on the older model aluminum hard cases.

front openings

the magnesium alloy on the case feels great and is well designed. on the other hand, i was disappointed with the quality of construction on the front's clear plastic, which was glued very poorly onto the front cover. the neoprene around the plastic was pushed up and the glue was readily apparent on the cover.

i was also very disappointed with the newly designed sd card slots. most models of cases i have tested put sd card slots in the front cover, but proporta tried a new technique of having an opening and protrusion in the back over the battery cover. the opening has a piece of plastic with two slots for you to slide your sd cards into from the back of the case. the problem is that getting the sd cards out can be quite a chore, and after i finally got mine back out a couple of times, the glue holding the sd card slot assembly in place let go and the whole assembly came out.

that unfortunate event gave me a better chance to see how the sd cards slide into the assembly, though, and i saw that there is a small plastic nub that fits into the cut-out on an sd card to hold it in place. while this does allow you to have your sd cards fairly secure when inserted, it makes it difficult to remove them, and, as i saw, the whole assembly had some quality issues.

problematic sd card holder

i would love to see proporta use this same type of magnesium material in a case design like its aluminum models, and i'd also like the company to forget about the sd card slots.

the proporta magnesium treo 650 case retails for us$44.95, and i cannot give it my recommendation with the current sd card slot design.